JP3593447B2 - Design support method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a design support apparatus that efficiently reuses past design data for new design in the shape design of machine products and the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The shape of a product, such as a mechanical product, or the shape of the components that make up the product is determined from various required specifications of the product. When a certain product is designed and manufactured, a design study and a study on the adequacy of processing to satisfy the required specifications are performed, and as a result, the production results of the product can be obtained. When designing a product that is similar to a product with a proven track record, the design of most of the product often uses existing design data that has been tracked.
[0003]
In designing a three-dimensional shape of a machine product or the like, there is a modeling method in which features having a group of shape characteristics such as a rectangular parallelepiped, a cylinder, a hole, a groove, and a corner are combined. For example, when modeling a product shape with a hole in the upper surface of a rectangular parallelepiped, first define the rectangular shape by inputting the lengths and positions of the three sides of the rectangular parallelepiped, and then input the center position, diameter, and depth of the hole on the upper surface. Define a hole. Since features of the product shape such as holes, grooves, and corner processing are prepared in advance as features, shape modeling can be performed using these features.
[0004]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-244681 (Reference 1) proposes a feature-based CAD system in which a part of existing design data is designated and a new feature can be registered efficiently.
[0005]
In order to reuse past design data in product design, it is convenient to be able to refer to what kind of past operation histories of partial shapes to be subjected to a combination operation have been created. This is because the combination of shapes has a considerable influence on design conditions such as strength conditions of the target product and adequacy of processing. Since the existing design data is considered to satisfy the consistency of the design conditions, it is desirable that the existing design data can be effectively used including the history data.
[0006]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-78090 (Reference 2) proposes, as an improvement of solid modeling, a method of storing a shape operation command and its arguments (parameters) in a tree structure to facilitate the regeneration of a previously created shape. is there. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-83296 (Reference 3) discloses that information of a shape operation repeated until a user obtains a desired shape is stored as history information, and a shape at an arbitrary shape operation time can be reproduced. There are proposals to facilitate correction of shape errors and creation of similar shapes.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the feature modeling method as in Reference 1, it is possible to design a new product shape using the registered partial shape features and part shapes. However, the feature itself cannot arbitrarily store the constraint condition in the mutual relationship of the feature according to the design object. A partial shape of a product that has a meaning as a function or a shape of a certain unit (hereinafter, referred to as a partial shape) has an inherent restriction in combination with another partial shape. For example, when drilling a hole in a plane, "this hole must be perpendicular to the plane", "a hole is drilled in this plane, but the groove is not cut", "part A is a part B cannot be joined ", based on past product results such as functional or processing.
[0008]
In the case of designing using a partial shape that does not store the constraint condition, the target product shape can be freely and geometrically modeled without restriction. However, a freely modeled product shape often lacks the functionality required for the product or lacks processing adequacy. For example, drilling a hole at a certain angle with respect to a certain surface or drilling a hole in a curved surface with a remarkably large curvature can be freely modeled in design, but may not be machined due to processing machine performance or the like. In such a case, as a result of studying the workability in the manufacturing department, a reversal of requesting a design change to the design department occurs, and the work process is greatly disturbed.
[0009]
In addition, the history of the shape operations accumulated in References 2 and 3 is based on the set of faces subjected to the shape operation and the parameters used in the operation, and is used for modeling the reproduction of past shape operations and changes in dimensional parameters. Is efficient. However, since constraints between shapes to be combined are not taken into account, it is possible to reach past results after trial and error shape operations for new combinations, or to work backwards due to design mistakes without being able to follow. There is a problem in the reliability and efficiency of the design work.
[0010]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-described problems of the prior art and to reduce trial and error and regression of design work by utilizing constraints in past designs between shapes of parts and features to be combined, and to reduce design quality. It is an object of the present invention to provide a design support device for improving the efficiency and work efficiency.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention for achieving the above object stores shape data for each shaped part which is a unit of operation, such as a previously designed surface or hole, and designs an arbitrary three-dimensional shape using those shaped parts. The design support method includes storing design history data including a shape type that can be combined with the shape component and / or a relational attribute that restricts the combination in correspondence with the shape data, and defining the shape data. In an operation of combining a shape part having the design history data in relation to an arbitrary shape or shape part with respect to a three-dimensional shape to be designed, the suitability of the combination is determined with reference to the design history data. And
[0012]
The determination of propriety is based on a comparison between the shape type and the shape type of the association destination, or a check as to whether or not the combination conforms to the geometric constraint of the relation attribute. Further, when the determination is appropriate, design history data relating to the combination is dynamically stored in correspondence with the shape part of the association destination.
[0013]
Further, the present invention provides an input device and an output device serving as an interface with a designer, a shape defining means for defining a shape by operating a shape in accordance with an input from the input device, and an operation device such as a previously designed surface or hole. In a design support apparatus including a storage device that stores shape data for storing shape data so that the shape data can be referred to for each unit of a shape, a design including a shape type that can be combined with the shape component and a relation attribute restricting the combination The history data is stored in the storage device in correspondence with the shape data, and when the shape parts having the design history data are combined arbitrarily with the shape to be designed, by referring to the design history data, It is characterized in that a design operation judging means for judging the suitability of the combination is provided.
[0014]
The design operation determination means may present the design history data to the output device when the determination is negative.
[0015]
In addition, the shape part referred to in the present invention is a three-dimensional object having a geometrical characteristic such as a plane such as a plane, a quadratic surface, a free-form surface, or a rectangular parallelepiped, a cylinder, a hole, or a groove formed by expressing a surface and its boundary. , And is a generic term for features that include procedures for their creation.
[0016]
According to the present invention described above, when a target product combining a figure defined by a designer and a registered shape part is newly designed, the suitability of the combination can be immediately determined at the time of association. That is, reference is made to a relational attribute such as a combination direction, which restricts a combinationable shape type or combination from the history data of the shape part, and compared with the shape type or geometric parameter of the figure related for the combination. To check the suitability of the combination. Since the design history data is based on past results, if the compatibility is confirmed, the combination can be executed. Note that it is also possible to accumulate a history of past failures in the design history data and determine that the corresponding combination is inappropriate. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to combinations between registered shape parts.
[0017]
According to this, when a designer designs a new product shape by combining features and previously designed components, trial and error and errors in the design can be significantly reduced, and the efficiency of the design work can be improved.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the design support apparatus of the present invention. The design support apparatus 1 includes a shape definition editing processing unit 6, a design history registration processing unit 7, a design operation determination processing unit 8, a storage device 3 having a shape data storage area 4 and a design history data storage area 5, a keyboard 11 and a mouse 12. An input processing unit 9 for receiving the input of the above, an output processing unit 10 for displaying on the display 13, and an overall control processing unit 2 for controlling the processing of these units.
[0019]
The design support device 1 uses the shape definition editing processing unit 6 to model the shaped parts of the product to be designed. The shape definition editing processing unit 6 includes a basic shape generation command for creating a product model to be designed, and performs geometric shape processing by combining basic shapes such as points, line segments, and surfaces, and primitive shapes. To create a shape model. The created shape model is stored in the area 4 of the storage device 3 as shape data. The shape data indicates geometric data of a partial solid formed by each surface or surfaces of the product shape.
[0020]
The design history registration processing unit 7 stores a combination operation performed on the shape data via the input processing unit 9 in the area 5 as design history data. The design history data is a history that has a record of past combination operations performed on shape data with other shape data, and combinations within the range of this history are unconditionally possible.
[0021]
When at least one performs a combination operation between shapes on the shape data stored in the storage device 3, the design operation determination processing unit 8 refers to the design history data corresponding to the shape data and performs the combination operation. Judge whether or not. If the combination between the shapes is within the matching range of the design history data, it is determined that the combination is possible. As a result, a combination operation is performed by the shape definition editing processing unit 6, and the generated shape model is provided to the designer through the display 3. On the other hand, when it is determined that the combination between the shapes is not possible, the result of the determination that the combination is impossible is displayed on the display 3 together with the history data, and is left to the judgment of the designer.
[0022]
FIG. 2 shows an example of a shape model defined by the shape definition means editing processing unit. The shape definition editing processing unit 6 defines the pedestal shape of (a) and the hole shape of (b) drawn by the designer on the screen based on the geometric information and stores them in the storage device 3. Further, by referring to the shape data of (a) and (b), a hole shape is combined with the surface 1 of the pedestal shape, and a pedestal shape having a hole formed in the surface 1 as shown in (c) is defined.
[0023]
FIG. 3 shows an example of the geometric shape of the shape part and the shape data. (A) shows the shape of a simple hole (ID = 101), (b) shows a plane (ID = 202), and (c) shows their shape data. The shape data includes a shape ID, a shape type, and a geometric parameter.
[0024]
The shape type is data for identifying a shape part. The geometric parameters are data representing the position and size of the shape. In the case of a simple hole, the diameter D, depth h, position (Xp, Yp, Zp), direction (Xv, Yv, Zv) of the hole, and in the case of a plane, a ridgeline (E ₁ , e ₂ , e ₃ , e ₄ ) and direction (Xv, Yv, Zv). These geometric parameters are input by the designer when the hole-shaped model is combined with a specific surface (before the association) of the pedestal model.
[0025]
The design history registration processing unit 7 stores the shape type, the geometric parameter, and the related attribute of the shape component obtained by performing the combination operation on a certain shape component in the storage device 3 as design history data for each shape ID.
[0026]
FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the design history data. (A) shows an example of design history data of a plurality of types of holes and planes. (B) is an example of a simple hole having a shape ID = 101, and shows a geometric relationship with a plane (relational shape). The relation attribute A〃B indicates that the direction vector A of the hole center axis and the normal vector B of the relation plane are parallel, and that “drilling with the center axis of the hole perpendicular to the plane” is possible. I have.
[0027]
The input of design history data corresponding to a shaped part is based on experience or actual results before the designer creates a design model, or when the designer permits the relationship between shapes. The design history registration processing unit 7 dynamically stores the information. When the design is continued in a state where the design history data does not match between the shapes, the related shape type and the related attribute related to the association are temporarily stored and added to the design history data based on the results of the manufacturing department or the like. It may be.
[0028]
Next, the processing procedure of the shape model design by the design support device 1 will be described. FIG. 5 shows a processing flow of the shape design. In the following, an example will be described in which the base shape of FIG. 2A serving as a base is defined, the hole shape of FIG. 2B is combined, and the holed base shape of FIG. 2C is designed.
[0029]
The shape definition editing processing unit 6 defines the pedestal shape of FIG. 2A according to the drawing on the screen (step S11). The geometric information of the pedestal shape is the geometric value and the boundary information of eight surfaces (including the surface 1 and the slope 2) formed of the closed area of the ridge line. Next, the hole shape of FIG. 2B is fetched by ID designation (here, a simple hole with a shape ID = 101), and is associated on the screen with the pedestal-shaped surface 1 of FIG. 2A by the designer. (Step S12).
[0030]
The design operation determination processing unit 8 first takes in design history data of a simple hole based on the association between figures in step S12 (step S13). In the design history data of the simple hole, the relation shape type is “plane”, and the relation attribute is “the hole center axis vector is parallel to the normal vector of the plane”. Next, the compatibility between the associated shapes is checked (step S14), and the result is determined (step S15).
[0031]
FIG. 6 shows a processing flow of the compatibility check. First, the shape type of the surface 1 to be related is read from the shape data area 4 and compared with the related shape type ("plane") set in the simple hole 101 (S21), and it is determined whether both types match. (S22). Since the shape type of the surface 1 is “flat”, it matches the related shape type of the simple hole 101. If they match, the type matching flag is turned on (S23), and if they do not match, the type matching flag is turned off (S24). When the type matching flag is turned on, it is checked whether the relation attribute is satisfied (S25).
[0032]
FIG. 7 shows a processing flow of the relation attribute check. The relation attribute in this example is an attribute that defines the direction as “the hole center axis vector and the normal vector of the plane are parallel”. First, a hole axis direction vector is obtained (S31) and a plane normal vector is obtained (S32). The plane normal vector is a vector that is perpendicular to the surface 1 in which a hole is formed in a pedestal shape. Next, the vectors in the two directions are compared (S33), and it is determined whether the two match the relationship defined in the relationship attribute (here, "parallel") (S34). It is turned on / off (S35 / S36).
[0033]
In step S14, if both the shape type match flag and the attribute match flag are ON, the design history match flag is set ON. On the other hand, if it is OFF, the design history match flag is turned off. The suitability of the design history is determined by turning on / off the design history match flag (S15).
[0034]
If the design history does not match, the design history data of the hole shape is presented (S16), and the designer is prompted to determine the continuation of the processing. If the processing is stopped, the association between the shapes is stopped (S20). If the design history matches or the processing is continued, the shape (FIG. 2C) related in step S12 is defined and registered (S18, S19). In this case, as the design history data, the shape ID = 201 of the plane 1 having a hole, the relation shape type “simple hole” and the relation attribute “A〃B” are defined and added.
[0035]
Next, an example of association between other shapes will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7A shows an example in which an oblique hole with ID = 102 is associated with the slope 2 having the same pedestal shape as in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4A, the design history data of the oblique hole has a relation shape type of “plane” and a relation attribute of “the angle between the hole center axis vector and the normal vector of the plane is 45 °”.
[0036]
In this case, the shape type of the slope 2 having the shape ID = 202 is a flat surface, which matches the related shape type of the hole shape. Further, if the inclination angle of the slope 2 is 45 °, the hole axis vector and the normal vector of the slope 2 become 45 °, satisfying the relation attribute, turning on the design history match flag, and FIG. Is registered. Further, design history data is automatically registered for the shape part (ID = 202) on the slope 2 as shown in FIG.
[0037]
If the simple hole with ID = 101 is associated with the slope 2, the relation attribute “A〃B” is not satisfied, so that the design history match flag is turned off, and the history that the combination is incompatible with the designer is determined. The data is presented.
[0038]
FIG. 8B shows an example in which a boundary hole having ID = 103 is associated with the surface 1 and the slope 2. In the design history data of the boundary hole, the relation shape type is “plane”, but the relation attribute includes two different conditions. That is, "the hole center axis vector and the normal vector of the plane are parallel" and "the angle formed by the hole center axis vector and the normal vector of the plane is 45 °", which are AND conditions at the time of the consistency determination. Therefore, when the hole axis vector is parallel to the normal of the plane 1 and at an angle of 45 ° with the slope 2, the combination is matched, and the registration of the figure in FIG. 8B is executed.
[0039]
According to the present embodiment, for a designed shape part, effective constraint information is attached as design history data based on past results of a combination with another shape part, etc. It is used to determine the suitability of a combination. According to this, the efficiency of similar design work, which accounts for a large proportion of design work, can be improved. In addition, since the return work from the manufacturing department or the like due to the design failure can be significantly reduced, the production process can smoothly proceed.
[0040]
Although the design history data of the present embodiment shows an example based on the results of success, the results of failure may also be stored and used for determination of nonconformity or presentation to a designer. According to this, the designer's mistake and trial and error can be further reduced.
[0041]
Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to convey the past design intent of the designer by storing the design history data relating to the association between the shapes including the geometric parameters.
[0042]
For example, taking as an example the modeling of a part having a hole formed on the upper surface of a rectangular parallelepiped, if there are holes of φ10 and φ20 as past design examples, if the data range of the geometric parameter is set in the storage device 3, Can have information on the shape parameter range that holes can be drilled in the range of φ10 to φ20. Therefore, when designing the drilling on the upper surface of this rectangular parallelepiped, if the input hole diameter is out of the range of φ10 to φ20, the design operation determination processing unit 8 determines the shape parameter range of the design history data and presents a design failure.
[0043]
Also, in the hole shape drilled in a rectangular parallelepiped, history information that the shape type on the other side is a rectangular parallelepiped and the surface drilled is a horizontal plane is stored. In addition, the reuse design including the intention of the designer can be performed by, for example, presenting a message to the designer that the part is different from the parts applied in the past.
[0044]
In addition, the designer designates a shape ID and refers to the design history data, changes the combination of the shape data and the design history data, and edits the related shape type and the related attribute of the design history data, thereby enabling the design history. It is also possible to edit the data itself.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, constraints on combinations of the designed shape parts based on actual results and the like are defined as relation attributes, so that it is possible to directly check the suitability of combinations with other shapes, and therefore, a design error And the efficiency of similar design work can be improved by reducing trial and error. In addition, it is possible to reduce the return work from the manufacturing department or the like due to design failure, and to realize a smooth progress of the production process.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a design support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a design target.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing geometric shapes of holes and planes, which are examples of a shape part, and shape data thereof.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of design history data according to one embodiment and a relation attribute of a single hole shape associated with a plane.
FIG. 5 is a processing flowchart of shape design support according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart for judging whether a combination between related graphics is appropriate.
FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart for judging propriety based on relation attribute judgment.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a design target.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Design support apparatus, 2 ... General control processing part, 3 ... Storage device, 4 ... Shape data area, 5 ... Design history data area, 6 ... Shape definition editing processing part, 7 ... Design history registration processing part, 8 ... Design Operation determination processing unit, 9: input processing unit, 10: output processing unit.

Claims (7)

For each of the previously designed designed units of operation, the shape data constituting the shaped component and the shape type for identifying the type of the shape data are stored, and an arbitrary three-dimensional shape is stored using those shaped components. In a design support method using a computer to be designed,
A step of storing design history data consisting of a relational attribute that restricts the combination of the shape parts as a unit of another combination operation with respect to the shape parts, in association with the shape data,
Reading the shape data and determining the suitability of the combination by referring to the design history data associated with the shape data when performing the combination operation on the three-dimensional shape to be designed with the shape component. How to help. In claim 1,
The design support method is characterized in that the determination of the suitability is made by comparing the shape type with a shape type of a relation destination or by checking whether or not the combination matches the geometric constraint of the relationship attribute. In claim 1 or 2,
A design support method characterized by dynamically storing design history data relating to a combination corresponding to a shape part of an association destination when the determination of the suitability is appropriate. An input device and an output device that serve as an interface with the designer, a shape definition unit that defines a shape by operating the shape in accordance with an input from the input device, and a shape part that is a unit of operation such as a previously designed surface or hole. in the design support apparatus comprising a referable accumulated to that Symbol憶device shape data constituting the shape parts,
Design history data consisting of a relational attribute that restricts the combination of the shape parts as a unit of another combination operation is stored in the storage device in association with the shape data,
A design operation determining means for reading out the shape data and performing a combination operation on the three-dimensional shape to be designed with reference to the design history data associated with the shape data to determine whether the combination is appropriate is provided. A design support device characterized by the following. In claim 4,
The design support device, wherein the design operation determination means presents the design history data to the output device when the determination is negative. In claim 4 or 5,
A design history registering means for dynamically registering the design history data according to the shape part and the input data instructed from the input device, and according to a combination condition of a shape to be associated when the determination is appropriate; A design support apparatus comprising: In a design support method using a computer that stores shape data created in the past or shape data that configures the shape component, and creates arbitrary three-dimensional shape data using those shapes,
An operation performed when a previously created shape part or shape data constituting the shape part is arranged is stored as history data including a relation attribute indicating a mutual connection relationship when the shape part or the shape data is combined. A history storage step to store;
When combining the shape part created in the past or the shape data constituting the shape part into another shape, refer to the history data stored in the history storage step, and associate the shape part with the referenced history data. Alternatively , a design supporting method characterized by a step of judging a match between a relation attribute of the shape data and a relation attribute associated with history data of a shape of a partner to be combined.

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